An uneasy calm prevailed in Kinaoni locality of Ghaziabad region on Tuesday, which had witnessed intense gunfire between Jatavs and Gujjars over a tract of land owned by the village panchayat on Monday.

Following the violence, several Jatav families have fled the village fearing backlash from the Gujjars. The village has a predominant Gujjar population and around 100 Jatav families. A youth of the village said, several people, including family of the accused, have deserted the place as they were being threatened by people from the rival community. He said those who had not left the village are forced to live under constant threat since they no longer trust the district administration. 

Meanwhile, police personnel remained posted on Tuesday in and around the village to avert any untoward incident. Following registration of FIR, 18 persons have been booked for Monday’s fracas and three have been arrested. Nearly 150 shots were fired as two groups clashed in Kinaoni village. In the incident, the grandson of the village head too had died.

The Jatavs alleged that instead of neutralising the situation, police is targeting them and slapping false charges on innocents. “It is clear the administration is acting under pressure and singling out our community. We had made it clear that action must be taken against the guilty. If the situation deteriorates further, there will be little option but to leave the place,” said Bhagatram, a Dalit of the village.

On the other hand, Gujjars too blamed police inaction, alleging they failed to take appropriate measures despite prior information of Jatav assemblage at the disputed site.

“We had informed the police about impending violence and had submitted a letter on Sunday seeking adequate deployment of forces. But we were scoffed at. Even, at the time of the incident, several PCR calls were made but no one responded. Police reached the village only after firing let up. The role of the district administration is ambiguous in the matter. The failure by police caused the death of 23-year-old Rahul. We demand stringent action against the accused Chaman Singh Bhagat and his cronies, who are still absconding,” said a family member of the youth, who died in the firing.

“We have registered FIRs against the accused and have launched a hunt to nab them. We are investigating; more names will be added in the FIR. We have made an appeal to the villagers to stay calm and avoid assembling in the area,” said a senior police official of Noida.